Bullet's fired by Dazzler

I threw the kitchen sink at him. The scoring was there, I hit the doubles, but unfortunately for me, Darryl responded to everything

The 27-year-old from Liverpool lost 4-2 in a thrilling second-round encounter at Lakeside.

Bunting – nicknamed The Bullet – was not exactly firing blanks as his three-dart average of 95.70 was the highest of the championships.

But Fitton certainly lived up to his moniker of The Dazzler with a deadly display on the doubles, which means the tournament won’t have its top seed involved in the quarterfinals for the first time in seven years.

Bunting said: “I threw the kitchen sink at him. The scoring was there, I hit the doubles, but unfortunately for me, Darryl responded to everything.

“I felt the pressure of being the No.1 seed because this is the title I always wanted to win as a child.”

Fitton, who has refused to shave off his beard if he keeps winning this week, said: “The old dog still has life left in him!

“The pressure was on him in a way but this was a big result for me. Maybe I’ll go all the way to the final now.”

Robbie Green, the No.5 seed, beat Scott Mitchell 4-1.

Green, who knocked out defending champion Christian Kist in the first round, dedicated the win to Peter Evison’s wife Angie, who died of cancer before Christmas.

He said: “I was disappointed not to attend her funeral.

“Peter played here many times and Angie came along, too. She was a lovely woman.”